page_title: Shahshahan mausoleum
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Shahshahan mausoleum / History
caption_attribution_description: Shahshahan Mausoleum Main Door
context_page_description: Shahshahan Mausoleum is a historical mausoleum in Isfahan, Iran. It is located beside Jameh mosque and is the burial place of a famous Sufi of Isfahan, Shah Alaeddin Mohammad. According to the date of Shah Alaeddin's death, which was in the December 1446, the mausoleum was built between 1446 and 1448. Inside and outside of the mausoleum is decorated by calligraphy, plasterwork and tiling. Its dome, which had been destroying in the recent years, has been rebuilt, but the mausoleum is still in dire need of more repair work.
context_section_description: Shahshahan Mausoleum is one of the historical buildings in Isfahan. It is located in the northern part of the city, beside Jameh Mosque on Ibn-e Sina Street. The area around it is called Shahshahan Place. It is the burial place of Shah Alaeddin Mohammad also referred to as Seyyed Alaeddin Mohammad. He is descended from the third Imam of the Shi'ites the grandson of Mohammad, Imam Hossein. His ancestors are traced back twenty four generations to Mohammad. According to historian Jean Chardin, in the old days, this section of Isfahan was known as the area of Houseinieh, because it was believed that the great grandsons of Hossein, Ali’s son and Mohammad’s grandson lived there.
  The mausoleum is an important shrine that belongs to the Timurid period (1370-1507). It was built between 1446 and 1448 by the order of Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor, the grandson of Shahrukh Mirza and one of Timur's grandsons.
  Shah Alaeddin Mohammad was an Imam (leader). He was highly respected by Sultan Mohammad  as he was the most outstanding scholar of his time. In addition to being the leader, Shah Alaeddin was the authority and the head of the religious hierarchy. Thus he was next in line to the king. It was for having these two high positions that he was known as Shahshahan (king of kings). He was given the responsibility of checking the validity of Ulama (religious elite) who claimed to be Seyyed (descendants of Mohammad).
  In those years, territorial rivalry was common among different rulers. This fueled by the potential hatred and animosity between Shia and Sunni caused tremendous tension between Sultan Muhammad who was supported by his Shia leaders and Shahrukh.
  As a result, when Shahrukh Mirza was in Harat and Sultan Muhammad was appointed by him as the ruler of Isfahan, Sultan Muhammad started to disobey Shahrukh and rebelled against him. Shahrukh came back from Harat to Isfahan to capture him. But Sultan Muhammad managed to escape from Isfahan to Shiraz and later to Lorestan. Faced with this grim situation, Shahrukh angrily ordered the arrest and execution of seven of Sultan Muhammas's close associates, including Shah Alaeddin Mohammad, who had supported Sultan Muhammad's revolt.
  Shahrukh exiled Shah Alaeddin to Saveh. Instigated by his Sunni wife, Goharshad Begum, Shahrukh ordered the hanging of Shah Alaeddin in Saveh on December 11, 1446 (13 Ramazan 850). According to most Persian historical texts, this atrocity and the consequent curse on the Timur's dynasty was believed to have ended the life of Shahrukh eighty days after the death of Shah Alaeddin. Subsequent to Shahrukh's death, Sultan Muhammad bin Baysonqor came back to Isfahan and ordered to bury Shah Alaeddin's body in the Khanqah he had preached in. He ordered also to build the Shahshahan mausoleum on his grave. Shah Alaeddin's descendants have been also buried in the mausoleum, but their graves have been defaced over the years.
caption: Shahshahan Mausoleum main door
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